emma Akmakdjian

Emma Akmakdjian

Bio

Emma Akmakdjian (Ek-Mek-Chen) is an interdisciplinary artist who translates climate data and system processes into interactive installations to dissolve barriers between nature and culture and contextualize the oceanic climate crisis as a sociological dilemma. Akmakdjian collaborates with scientists on projects that include workshops, interviews, and experiments, that demonstrate how subjective experience inspires people to interpret the material world differently. Her work focuses on marine ecology, taking inspiration from her experience as an AAUS scientific scuba diver.

Akmakdjian received her MFA in the Design | Media Arts program at University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) with a certificate in Leaders of Sustainability. She holds a Bachelor of Arts from California State University Channel Islands (CSUCI) and studied at L’Accademia di Belle Arti, Firenze, Italy.

Statement

Emma (Swedish-Armenian) grew up in Southern California, where she frequented the public beaches of Los Angeles, fostering a deep appreciation for marine life. Fascinated by the richly diverse tide pools, she was very concerned with the sudden loss of bright orange sea stars that nearly disappeared in 2008 following El Niñio heat waves and a voracious marine disease called Sea Star Wasting Syndrome. Shocked by the near disappearance of this species, Emma began to understand what she saw on the shores was only a fraction of the damage incurred in the kelp forests along the North West Pacific continental shelf. Eager to go beyond the beach, Akmakdjian got her diving certification in 2018 and followed a scientific diving course at UCLA in 2022 to study kelp forest restoration theory and practice. Emma uses her art to mediate between the public, science, and cultures to unite people to confront climate change in our oceans. Akmakdjian’s passion for change has led her to volunteer on numerous scientific restoration projects, especially in the Southern California Channel Islands (the ancestral land of the Chumash). Her artworks often use science as her medium and challenge material reuse ontologies. Her materials range from marine debris rope, plastic buoys, salvaged steel from boat wrecks, data from the laboratory, and shells from restoration projects. Emma enjoys working in the field and laboratory with scientists to brainstorm approaches to protecting marine ecosystems for humans and aquatic life.